Although in many respects the present invention has utility in connection with so-called "single knotters" in which a crop bale is enveloped by a binding loop having but one knot joining opposite ends of the loop, the present invention has particular utility for use in connection with a "double knotter" by virtue of which each binding loop around the bale consists of two separate strands of material joined together at two locations to form two knots at such locations.
An example of such a double knotter may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,074,623 issued Feb. 21, 1978 in the name of Allen A. White and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. Said patent is hereby incorporated by reference into the present specification as may be necessary for a full and complete understanding of the present invention.
A problem with present-day knotters lies in the fact that, due to a variety of causes, the knotters may from time-to-time "miss" and fail to form a knot as intended. Thus, the bale loses a degree of its structural integrity, depending upon how many of the side-by-side strands around the bale have failed to be knotted. At worst, this results in the bale completely falling apart as it issues from the baler and hits the ground, causing a substantial waste of time, effort and money.
The problem is compounded by the fact that the operator is normally positioned well ahead of the location on the baler where knotting takes place and his view to the knotter is obstructed. Furthermore, in "extrusion" balers where the bales issue from a restricted orifice at the rearend of the baler, once a bale has been tied by the knotter, it normally remains in the bale chamber, although incrementally issuing through the orifice, at least until such time as the next bale has been fully formed so as to provide a backstop for compaction purposes of the next bale. Thus, the fact that the knotter has mistied may not become evident until two or more defectively tied bales have been produced and the first of those has hit the ground.